Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Reloaded
by mikk317
Summary: James lives in Solaceon Town, working on a ranch. While he hasn't exactly had a dull life, it's never really been amazing either. Then the Pokemon came that changed his life, and James stopped being human. Needless to say, his life is VERY exciting now.
1. A New Beginning

**_This story's ability is Slow Start. Give it a few chapters and then it'll be a rampaging powerhouse._  
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><p><strong>Mid Autumn, 2078 C.E.<strong>

**Solaceon Town, Sinnoh**

_*Slurp*_

James sat on an old, wooden stool, that creaked under his weight as he was slowly taking sips from his mug of coffee, freshly brewed to 180 degrees. The stool sat next to an island counter (also wooden) in the middle of a medium-sized kitchen, which was about 11' x 13'. There were also counterson each wall. The left counter was beneath a large window, whichoverlooked a wide, grassy plain that stretched far off into the distance, further than the eye could see, rolling hills caressing the surface. On top of all the counters were made of large, shale tiles, worn smooth by the sandpaper of the window was a deeap sink, kept a pristine white by Elaine (the owner of the place, along with her husband, Rob). The counter on the other side of the room had a solid, iron stove, taking up half the counter space with its wide girth. Underneath the stove was an oven, insides burnt matte black by years of use. Standing out among all the weathered textures, the white plastic refrigerator stood awkwardly in the corner among the rustic surfaces.

_*Slurp*_

_*Clunk*_

James stared forlornly into the empty coffee mug, as he placed it in the sink. At six feet tall, he was (apparently) tall for his age and was fifteen years old. He lived with his family, about half a mile outside of Solaceon. Normally, he would've started his Pokemon journey two years ago, when he was thirteen, but his family fell on hard times, and he had to stay home to help out. Of course, when he took the ranch-hand job at Rob's and Elaine's place, he figured that he'd be there for a month or two to help get his family back on its feet, and then he'd start his journey a little late. "Better late than never," he had thought. And then his father, the family's primary money-maker, died. So here he was, two years later, the only ranch-hand that stayed year-round, making a decent salary to support his depressed mother (who had attempted suicide twice) and – more importantly – his eleven-year-old sister, Lucy. To earn enough money to support them, he had to stay at the farm nearly around-the-clock, except for when he got to see them on Sundays. It's not that he didn't like the ranch or anything – it was just that his entire life's worth of hopes and dreams of traveling across the land, searching far and wide for Pokemon, had been utterly squashed.

Walking away from the sink after rinsing out his mug, James looked out the window and saw that the sun was rising, splashing orange, pink, and red across the horizon._"Crap!" James thought. "I'm late!"_James picked up his jacket from the hook by the door, and stepped into his tough, leather boots with a practiced quickness. As he stepped through the door, the crisp air of Fall greeted him, filling his powerful lungs with chilly air and leaving nothing but a lonely cloud of carbon dioxide in its place. James briskly walked over to the huge, looming barn next to the two-story house that all the ranch-hands shared.

There were four other ranch-hands at the place: Jason, who was the most knowledgeable of them all and hailed from Lilycove in Hoenn; Alex, who was strong and resourceful, but was a bit dim-witted and was from Celestic to the north; Joe, a scrawny seventeen-year-old who made up for his lack of strength with his excellent cooking prowess (he came from a region very far away, that he said was named "Unova"); and Austin, a cunning practical joker from Hearthome. James was the odd man out, preferring to work alone in the wee hours in the morning. He – among other things – had the job of getting up before dawn to let the Pokemon out of their barns in the morning. At the ranch, there were were four different species of Pokemon raised: Ponyta, Rapidash, Miltank, and Tauros. The Ponyta and Rapidash were raised and sold for entertainment reasons only, while the Miltanks produced milk and the Tauros were turned into beef.

And then there as the property itself The ranch owned approximately 750 acres of land, and of it, 10% of the acres consisted of a deep forest. Not that it mattered though, the Pokemon usually stayed away from it, as it was infested with some pretty powerful Pokemon; Austin thought he saw a Venusaur back there when he was rescuing a misguided Miltank calf a few months ago. Not that anyone had believed him. The other 90% of the acres had wide, open prairies, that lay upon rolling hills. But I digress.

James unlocked the barn's heavy padlock, while the sun rose steadily behind him, and he could already hearthe Pokemon whinnying in displeasure from being stuck inside the barn when they desperately wanted to run. The doors' hinges opened smoothly and silently, as they were kept oiled by Jason, and were completely silent.

Everything inside the barn was nice and orderly. There were pens along the east and west sides of the barn, made of special fire-proof lumber imported from Fallarbor Town in Hoenn, as was the rest of the barn. There were fifteen pens on each side, in which. Four of them were empty. In the pens that were full, there were seven Ponyta and nineteen Rapidash, shifting around restlessly as they waited for James to unlock the hatch on their pens. In the back of the barn, were mountainous bales of hale, reaching almost to the loft, a place which we'll touch upon later. As James walked by each pen,unlocking them as he went, each Pokemon let out a thankful whinny in response, and then galloped out into the open ranch. The Rapidash and Ponyta galloped off, running towards some unknown destination as a singular, giant mass. James cast a sideways at the house and noticed that the others had been roused from their slumber by the thundering hooves, and would probably cook breakfast soon.

"_Alright, well, I better go release the _others,"James thought._"They might be hungry. No, wait. They're always hungry..." _On the other side of the big, red barn that the Ponyta and the Rapidash were kept in was another, but squat, wider, and lacking paint. James continued the same routine as he had before, albeit more slowly, because there were far more of the bovines then horses (about 70 cows total), and they made most of the farm's money. As the Miltank and Tauros (that were awake) ambled over to the pasture for some delicious grass, James strolled over to the house and saw Joe frying something on the griddle. _"Oh. It's Sunday, isn't it?" _James thought offhandedly._"I guess Joe's making us a big breakfast then, as usual." _Joe always cooked a rather large breakfast on Sundays. Apparently it reminded him of his home back in Lacunosa Town. James caught a whiff of what was cooking. _"Is that... corned beef _hash?_ We haven't had meat since Tauros beef got expensive... what's the occasion, I wonder? I hope there's some extra for... _him_."_

Inside the house, the hash in the cast-iron frying pan was sizzling merrily, and Alex and Austin were rubbing the eyes, while Joe was wide awake and whistling a happy tune. Morning as usual. "G'morning James!" Joe greeted me. He spoke fluently in our language, but had a slight accent leftover from Unova. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, I guess. You?" I was never much of a talker, and as a consequence, most of my sentences were short, and to the point. Some people call me blunt, or introverted, and maybe they're right. But I don't care. That's just who I am, and that's the way I always will be, that mysterious kid in the background, that no one knows about.

"Eh... It was alright." As I bent over to untie my shoes, he simultaneously shook his pan and added one of his mysterious, homemade spices he always kept in his apron, before speaking again. "As you can see, the other two are as lively as usual..."

Austin wearily lifted his head from his arms, and stared blearily at Joe as he spoke. "_You _weren't up all night working. You have no right to be talking." He shifted his head in the general direction of James, and uttered a small "Morning..." before putting his head back into his arms.

"I don't believe staying up all night _Miltank tipping _qualifies as working," Joe responded, without looking up from what he was cooking.

"...Shut up..." Austin groaned from within his arms.

During all of this, Alex remained perfectly silent, content with staring at the ceiling, and thinking about Arceus-knows-what.

James strolled over to the fridge and got himself a glass of orange juice. "What's the special occasion, Joe?" At Joe's confused glance, James added, "You know, with the meat and all."

"Oh! That! Well, I was at the supermarket yesterday, and I ran into an old friend of mine, back from when I lived in Lacunosa. Apparently, he works as the captain of a ship that imports goods from Unova. Among his goods, were some prime cuts of Bouffalant, and he was able to get me a great deal! I bought a whole bunch, vacuum-sealed the lot, and stored the meat in the freezer for future use. So, no special occasion, no-no; only cooking some food from our new stockpile."

"Ah."

"Exciting, yes?"

"Very." Actually, it was quite an event: there had been a huge shortage of meat after a burst of some rare disease disease from Johto ravaged the population of Normal-type Pokemon, which had a profound effect on milk and meat production. A cure had recently been developed during a collaboration between Silph Co. and the Devon Corporation, but the numbers of Normal-type Pokemon were still low. Our Miltank and Tauros hadn't been affected for some reason, so all of our milk and meat had been sold to rich people overseas, or locals.

"How would you like your eggs this morning?" Unfertilized Combusken eggs, cooked to perfection. Gotta love 'em!

"Over easy, thanks." Small talk like this continued until the meal was served. By the time everyone was gathered at the table, Alex and Austin had woken up from their sleepy stupor, and Austin's exuberant personality (coupled with a good cup of Chesto Berry coffee) took over, taking the table by storm. "Anyone have any weird dreams last night?" he said, not waiting for anyone to answer before he went on. "I did! It started with me standing at the top of one of those huge towers in Jubilife, towering above the city. And then, this huge Tyranitar – taller than the building I was standing on - appeared next to me and let out a huge roar. Then, on the other side of city, this humungous Mothim – as big as the Tyranitar – came flying down out of a cloud, and they had a battle. They were tossing buildings and cars, and they destroyed the entire city. It was, like, awesome!"

"That's... lovely, Austin. How's the hash?" Joe asked, a bit overwhelmed by Austin super-fast talking.

"Fantastic! I haven't meat in AGES!" Austin responded, still hyper.

"Glad to hear it,"Joeturned to me. "Think it needs anything, James?" I was a fairly good cook myself, and Joe often asked me my opinion on the food.

"It's delicious. Perhaps a little garlic, and maybe a bit of red pepper might add to the taste, but otherwise it's great." James responded.

"Glad to hear it. I'll remember that for next time." Then he stood up. "Well, I'm done now. Austin, Alex? Don't forget to do the dishes, like last time." That was the way it worked around here, Joe and I would take turns cooking dinner (we usually made our own lunches and breakfasts), while Austin and Alex did the dishes.

_*Slurp*_

James sat on an old, wooden stool, that creaked under his weight as he was slowly taking sips from his mug of coffee, freshly brewed to 180 stool sat next to an island counter (also wooden) in the middle of a medium-sized kitchen which was about 11' x 13'. There were also counterson each wall. The left counter was beneath a large window, whichoverlooked a wide, grassy plain that stretched far off into the distance, further than the eye could see, rolling hills caressing the surface. The tops of all the counters were made of large, shale tiles, worn smooth by the sandpaper of the window was a deep sink, kept a pristine white by Elaine (the owner of the place, along with her husband, Rob). The counter on the other side of the room had a solid, iron stove, taking up half the counter space with its wide girth. Underneath the stove was an oven, insides burnt matte black by years of use. Standing out among all the weathered textures, the white plastic refrigerator stood awkwardly in the corner among the rustic surfaces.

_*Slurp*_

_*Clunk*_

James stared forlornly into the empty coffee mug, as he placed it in the sink. At six feet tall, he was (apparently) tall for his age and was fifteen years old. He lived with his family, about half a mile outside of Solaceon. Normally, he would've started his Pokemon journey two years ago, when he was thirteen, but his family fell on hard times, and he had to stay home to help out. Of course, when he took the ranch-hand job at Rob's and Elaine's place, he figured that he'd be there for a month or two to help get his family back on its feet, and then he'd start his journey a little

"Don't worry Joe, Austin and I won't forget this time. Now go and do...whatever you were going to do." Then he started talking to Austin about something. James was pretty sure he heard something about some weird new Pokemon from the two. Joe sighed, laced up his boots, and went out the door.

James took a quick look around, making sure that no one was looking, and then dumped the rest of that amazing hash into a little plastic bowl James had in his lap, and snapped the lid into place. _"He'll like this much better than the oatmeal I've been feeding him, that's for sure. Since he liked the last hash, he's sure to love this one!"_

James glanced around one more time to make sure Alex and Austin hadn't seen, put the bowl underneath my coat, and walked unceremoniously out the door. James set a quick trot towards the red barn, and opened the door. Making sure that Joe wasn't in there, James shut the door behind him, scurried over to the hay bales,and climbed up them, making sure the lid of the bowl didn't come off. At the top of the stack, standing completely erect, his fingertips barely brushed the bottom of the little trapdoor James had fashioned as an entryway to the loft. He gently pulled on the handle, and the trapdoor swung open, causing a small ladder to slide down. It had taken him ten days to craft it, but it was definitely worth it. It had also helped that James had convinced Alex to help make it for my "attic" back at home. After climbing the ladder, James forgot to shut the trapdoor, and hurried over to where he was looking out the small window.

"_Good morning, James__,__" _the Riolu said telepathically. _"Did you bring me some breakfast?"_

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><p><strong><em>Sweet! First Chapter in a new epic, by the magnificent mikk317! Seriously though, I'm not giving up on this one. It will be spectacular!<em>**

**_I realize that this chapter isn't the most exciting, but it needed to be written. There will definitely be action in the next chapter!_**

**_Don't forget to review! Criticism/suggestions/random comments accepted!_**


	2. Vegetarians and Visions

**Mid Autumn, 2078 C.E.**

**Solaceon Town, Sinnoh**

"Of course I brought your breakfast, Rylie!" James said cheerfully, and came closer to the Riolu. James retrieved the plastic bowl out of his jacket pocket and working the lid open with his fingers."Joe made another hash today, so I got you a little more than normal."

Rylie brightened considerably at this statement. Ever since he came to the ranch, hash had become one of his favorite foods. _"Excellent!" _the Riolu said enthusiastically. He tried to get up, and, with a little difficulty, managed to prop himself up and slowly walked over to James, limping slightly._"The legs and my ribcage seem to be doing better today..."_

"Totally!" James replied."Your pace is definitely faster than it was yesterday." James finally found a good grip on the bowl, and pried the lid off. Then he handed it to Rylie, who was waiting with outstretchedarms. "Here."

Rylie took the bowl and sat down again, placing the food in his lap._"It smells different than usual, James_,_" _Rylie said as he took a handful of food up to his mouth. _"Did Joe put a special ingredient in it today?"_

"Yep! He got an amazing deal on some meat from Unova, and he put some in the…hash... Why are you staring at me like that?"

Rylie had froze at the word "meat," the food hovering just below his lips. _"Did you just say _meat_?"_

"Uhh... yeah...?"

Rylie threw the handful across the room. _"You people eat _MEAT_?" _The look of anticipation on his face from only a moment earlier vanished, and was replaced by a look of disgust.

James stared at Rylie, shocked and confused. "Is that a problem?"

"_Of course it's a problem! What kind of sick person do you think I am? DO I LOOK LIKE A _CANNIBAL _TO YOU?"_

Backing away slowly, James was stuttering. "W-well, I, uh, s-s-saw some Pokemon e-eating meat on the n-nature channel one time, and I-I thought that maybe you... you know..."

"_That is the most RIDICULOUS thing I have ever heard! WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR?"_

"I... umm... what?"

Rylie facepalmed. _"Take your stupid bowl back, sicko." _In his rage, Rylie threw the bowl a little harder than he meant to and hit James square in the forehead.

"HEY! That was uncalled fo- WAH!" The force of the bowl had caused James to stumble back a bit... right to where he had forgotten to shut the trapdoor. Half a second later, Rylie heard a muffled THUMP.

Rylie hobbled over to the ledge to get a better look to see what had happened. Apparently, James had fallen out of the trapdoor, bounced off the top hay bale, and plummeted to the floor below. As Rylie looked on, James groaned, and passed out.

"_Oh no_,_" _Rylie thought._"He's going to be _really _mad when he wakes up."_

_**Inside of James's clouded mind...**_

_Somewhere, a Swablu was singing a joyous tune, celebrating the recent coming of Spring. The leaves, still crisp from the cold weather that had just left the area, crunched underfoot. James was hiking at a fast clip, not because he was in a rush, but because his time at the ranch had changed him from a spindly little character, into a lean, fit adolescent. As such, he often found himself moving far more quickly than he intended when he wasn't focusing on what he was doing. He was hiking from Solaceon Town to Lake Valor, which was about four miles round-trip, a short walk by anyone's standards. But __that was okay - he only wanted to get off the ranch for alittle while during his break. A shadow passed over him, and James looked up, seeing a large cloud rumbling across the sky. _"That's strange," _he thought__._ "The forecast predicted clear skies over Lake Valor and Route 214 today, and they're always right."_The weather station had trained three Castform to predict the weather, and they were hardly ever wrong. He lengthened his strides a bit, hoping to eat lunch while it was still dry._

_Soon, he arrived at Lake Valor, breathing heavily from walking so fast. Looking around, James took in the serenity of the place. The lake was as calm and pristine as ever. Some waves lapped gently against the shore, and a few small Pokemon could be seen in the shallows. He could see all the way across the lake to the other side, where the normal entrance to the lake could be seen, the one that tourists always went through. The place where James had come out was an area that not many people came to, and he had never seen anyone else there before. Finding a comfortable log to sit on, James took his backpack off of his shoulders and, after groping around a little bit in his backpack, pulled out a brown-paper sack. Reaching inside hungrily, he pulled a huge sandwich out of his bag. He stared at it lovingly for a few moments, brought it up to his teeth, and felt his teeth barely touching the bread. James closed his eyes, sank his teeth into the delicious bread, and slowly savored every bite of the ambrosia._"I _love _Joe's sandwich's," he thought."I really ought to eat mor-"

_KA-BOOM! James nearly dropped his sandwich. " Ah!" James cried. "What in Arceus's name was tha- woah."_

_Apparently, while James wasn't paying attention, that thundercloud had come to rest right over the lake, and lighting was hitting the water like rain. James, in one fluid motion, stuffed his lunch into his backpack, zipped it up, threw it over his shoulder, and began to run as fast as he could towards some cover. _"This is **not **natural," _he decided as he jumped behind a rock and watched the light show. FZZZ... KA-BOOM! A jagged strip of lightning, larger than the others, came down and struck the center of the lake. But instead of disappearing after half-a-second like any other bolt of lightning, this one stayed there, and seemed to twist and writhe, like a dancing Arbok. The lake began to – slowly at first – turn a bright, electric blue, until the lake became the same color as the lightning. James was in shock. "What the f- !" Before James could finish, the lightning and the lake flashed red, a shock wave sent a 10-foot tall wave expanding from the center of the lake. Just before the mass of water hit him, James noticed a small object fly out of the middle of the lake, and then it all went black._

_**Meanwhile, back in the barn...**_

Rylie was about to try to go down to the floor of the barn to help James, but heard Alex yelling from the outside.

"Hey!" he hollered."You okay in there?" Rylie heard Alex fumbling with the latch on the barn door, and, realizing that Alex was coming to help, closed the trapdoor with unnatural speed, and wobbled back to his makeshift seat, wondering what James would say when he woke up.

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><p><em><strong>Hey everyone! I'm back for another chapter. I realize the last one wasn't all that exciting, but it was necessary to get an introductory chapter like that out. I'm also sorry that this chapter's pretty short, the reason being that I was low on time when I wrote it, and I needed to get it done. I know you're all begging for some PMD action, and it <strong>_**will_ happen. Just not yet. But soon!_**

**_**_Don't forget to review! Criticism/suggestions/random comments accepted!_**_**

**_**_...No seriously, I would really appreciate some feedback on this._**_**


	3. Adventures at Lake Valor, Part One

**Mid Autumn, 2078 C.E.**

**Solaceon Town, Sinnoh**

"_Are you alright? _Rylie asked. Those were the first words James heard as he awoke.

James's eyes open slowly, feeling as heavy as lead. He could see that he was lying on a bed somewhere, and that there were some machines on the wall across from him, and that entire room seemed very...sterile. His mouth felt dry and fuzzy, his tongue tasted like roadkill, and his throat was scratchy. "Where..." he managed to get out.

"_The local... ah... 'Pokemon Center'. Alex took you there after you fell from the trapdoor__,__" _Rylie replied as Alex slowly sat up.

Glancing around, James noticed that he was in a hospital bed, completely alone in the room. "How are you speaking to me?" James asked, "I don't see you, and I didn't think that your range could come all the way from the barn."

"_My range can't go that far; I'm actually on the roof of this... Pokemon Center."_

"The roof? How the hell-"

"_Think whatever you want to say instead of saying it out loud. That way you don't look like you're talking to yourself."_

"_...Can you hear me?" _James thought.

"_Yes. Now, about how I got to the roof: my evolution chain has always had the ability to heal extraordinarily quickly under stressful or dire circumstances, so, that's how I managed to get to the roof without killing myself. A special kind of adrenaline, you could say."_

"_Wow! That's pretty cool. So I guess when you made__me __fall out of the barn, that was considered 'dire'?"_

"_...I guess so. This has happened to me only once before."_

"_Why did you hit me with that bowl, anyway__?__"_

"_Well, it's OBVIOUSLY because I – your friends are coming. Lie down."_

James did as he said, and, lo and behold, the ranch-hands arrived a minute later, grins on their faces. There was silence for a minute, and then everyone began talking at once.

Jason's voice rose above them all. "How'd you fall down in the first place, James?"

Again, we lapsed into a silence. Then Joe spoke, in a curious voice. "Yeah. Why were you up there, anyway?"

Before James could answer, Riley said (thought),_"You thought you heard a Pokemon up in the loft, and you went to check it out; seeing that there was nobody there, you turned to go back down, and tripped."_

James, though it went against his personal moral code of conduct to lie, told them the story anyway, and it went off without a conversation consisted mostly of small talk after that, until the doctor came in, to speak with James.

"You have a mild concussion," she said matter-of-factly, "_but _don't worry about it – a day or two off from your ranch, and you'll be okay."

James grimaced._"How am I going to make up the days I missed?" _he thought,_"I need to send home enough money to pay for Lucy's education and Mom's treatment."_

But Alex seemed to read his mind, saying, "Relax, James. You get paid sick leave, just like the rest of us. A few days off won't hurt."

James realized he was right, and cursed himself for forgetting. "Of course! I can't believe I forgot." Then he turned to the doctor. "So I'm free to go?"

The doctor smiled, and said, "Yes, dear. But remember to take it easy for a few days. That doesn't mean you shouldn't stay active though –I would recommend taking some short hikes in and around Solaceon, alright?"

"Will do, ma'am!" James responded. Then, gingerly, he managed to move himself to a sitting position on the end of the bed, and slowly stood up. A little dizzy at first, he wobbled over to where his boots were, and slid his feet into them, feeling more confident. After a long walk back to the ranch, during which he learned that Rob and Elaine had heard about his predicament, and would've come to visit him, except that they were visiting family in Sunyshore, James flopped down on his bed, and closed his eyes._"Rylie? You there?" _he asked.

The answer came back quickly._"Yes, I followed you all the way back home, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until I _got to yours_. It was... fun."_

James laughed._"Yeah, I'll bet_._" _There was silence for a minute._"So what was that whole thing in the loft about, anyway?"_

Rylie groaned in his mind._"We can talk about it tomorrow, okay? You need your rest."_

James sighed._"Alright. Am I meeting you in the loft again?"_

"_No. Going in the barn will be suspicious." _Rylie contemplated this for a second. _"__How we rendezvous at the trailhead to Lake Valor tomorrow, after breakfast? We could hike down to Lake Valor together. And besides, I need to go there soon anyway."_

James was excited. He had never actually _done _anything with Rylie before, so this would be an interesting experience for both of them._"It's a date!" _Then James yawned, and gazed out the window at the setting sun on the horizon. _"I'm pretty tired; I think I'll go to sleep for now. Good night, Rylie."_

"_Good night, James."_

And then he slept.

_**James's dreams...**_

"_Starly, Star!" an absurdly high voice chirped happily.__James moaned and opened his eyes, pleasantly surprised to see a Tailow's-egg blue sky. He slowly sat up and twisted around, taking in his surroundings, and looking for the source of the chirping. As he slowly became coherent, James noticed that he was soaked, and that he was on the shore of some lake._

"_What the hell...?" he uttered softly, confused. His gaze fell on some Magikarp swimming in a tide pool created by the flood, and then it all came rushing back: the strange lightning bolt, __the freak wave, his delicious sandwich... James stood up and realized in a panic that his backpack was missing!_

"_Starly!" The voice came again. James turned around, and saw two Starly pecking at his __delicious sandwich_,_ which was peeking limply out of his trusted backpack several yards away._

_Gaining his strength remarkably quickly, James ran over to his pack, yelling, "Shoo! Shoo! Get away! That's __**my **__delicious sandwich!" The Starly hopped away, squawking, and looked on from a distance, pouting. As James inspected his sandwich, he realized –to his great regret – the sandwich was completely drenched with lake-water. Everything else in his pack seemed dry though. James sighed, and said to the Starly_, _"__Alright, you can have my sandwich. I guess I don't really want it in this state," __he said__as he forlornly tossed the food to the avian Pokemon, who chirped its__name with delight._

_James zipped up his backpack, and took stock of his situation: from what he could see, he was stuck on the side of the lake that no one ever went to, the side that that was opposite the main entrance and the trail exit that he had come out of, that only trainers whose Pokemon could use Surf ever went to. He seemed to be fine, and his backpack had taken the brunt of the blow from the wave (how __its __contents stayed dry, he will never know.__**)**_ _Before he went back to the ranch, though, James wanted to investigate the object that had flown out of the lake just before the water hit him. With a few quick calculations, James realized that it should be just to his... left somewhere. From the glimpse he had taken, the object was about as big as his backpack, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find. James hummed a little tune as he strolled over to the woods, picking up a sizable stick along the way to hack through the brush with._

_The old-growth forest looming in front of James was pretty thick, bound together with blackberry bushes, huge trees, and salal. James gritted his teeth, readied himself for the grueling task. Even though it would be a bit difficult, it would be worth it; wouldn't you try to get something if it had just fallen out of a crazy lightning storm/flood? And without further ado, he made his way in._

_**A little while later...**_

_Was that a moan James had heard? Sweating profusely, and getting scratched and snagged on by the sharp blackberry bushes, James thought he heard someone (or something) groan. "Guh..." There it was again! James hacked his way in the general direction of the sound with renewed vigor. After several minutes of furious slashing, James reached a deep gouge that scored the earth in a V pattern, starting wide, and getting smaller until a small figure lay at its apex._

"_Hey! Are you alright?" James shouted as he ran toward it. When he reached it, he examined its body. It was a Riolu, and it wasn't in good shape. James later learned that this was indeed the "object" that flew out of the lake, and that it had gotten its scratches and bruises from flying through trees at high-speeds, while it had broken its legs from the hard impact. "Are you okay?" he asked, more softly this time._

_It groaned again in response, and kept its eyes tightly shut. But what happened next blew James's mind__. _"Do I _look _alright to you?"_it said sarcastically, in __**his mind.**_

_To say that James was startled was an understatement. He literally fell over backing away from the little Riolu. "There's _no way _that was you," he said, a little more loudly than necessary, being slightly panicked._

_The Riolu laughed, which ended up leading to a coughing fit that ended with him spitting up some blood. _"It was most definitely me. Who else would it be?"

_James realized it meant no harm, so he slowly got a little closer. "How can you do that? Talk in my mind, I mean." The Riolu was about to say (think?) something when James abruptly cut in, "Never mind. Getting you medical attention is more important right now."_

"NO!" _it barked__, _"I can heal on my own. If you want to help me thenyou can find me a safe place to recover."

_James was confused. "What? Why wouldn't you want me to help?"_

"I... can't let anyone else see me. My mission is too important. If Azelf was here, I wouldn't _be_in this position. Where is he, I wonder?"

_James ignored the last part, because he didn't know who __Azelf __was, and instead asked.__"What is your mission? And why can't anyone else see you?"_

"I can't... I can't tell... you. Ugh... I'm getting weaker... I need somewhere to rest soon, or I might pass... out..."_With that, the Riolu relaxed and seemed to fall asleep._

"Hrmm... I suppose I could put him in the barn loft..."_James thought,_" But he's receiving a proper interrogation after this." _James carefully picked up the Riolu, wrapped him in his jacket, and placed him in his backpack, leaving his head peaking out of a gap he had left in the zipper, and set off for the trail._

James yawned and sat up in his bed. His first thought as he saw the rays of sunlight in filtering through the curtains was one of anxiety:_"Gah! I overslept!" _But as he saw Jason letting out the horses, James remembered that he was out of commission for a few days, because of his fall.

James reflected on his flashback of a dream, and thought about what happened after getting back to the ranch. He had pulled himself up to the loft (no easy task with an injured Riolu in your backpack), gotten some Oran berries from the stash reserved for the horses and slowly nursed him back to health, over the course of three weeks. During that period, he had learned that the Pokemon's name was Rylie, and that Rylie claimed to be from a secret organization in the past, called the "Timekeepers." He had come to the future to find a hero whohad something he called the "Dimensional Scream" to bring with him to the past, who would rid the land of a terrible evil. Because he was in (the Timekeepers), he could communicate with all creatures. James wasn't sure if he believed him or not. On one hand we have the ridiculous notion of time-travel, but on the other we have the freak storm that happened the day James had found Rylie, that was certainly not natural. Plus Rylie's ability to talk added another factor to the equation. But, believing or not, the two became fast friends, and Rylie was quite entertaining to talk to after you got to know him. And then there was yesterday's incident, which left James feeling lost and confused.

"_Right... better go get some breakfast..." _James thought, but then sniffed himself and realized,_"I need a shower." _After a hot, blissful shower that spent way too much hot water, James changed into some hiking clothes (a durable pair of synthetic pants and a sweat wicking shirt, plus his trusty backpack hanging off of his shoulder), James wolfed down a bowl of cereal. Saying a quick goodbye to Austin, James swiftly laced up his hiking boots and set off towards the trail head. Sure enough, Rylie was waiting for him, in the prime of health.

"_You're late__,__" _Rylie said, a grin playing across his face.

"I don't recall setting a specific time_,_" James replied, while walking past the Riolu into the forest. "Let's get going."

Rylie hurried to catch up to James, and then fell into step with him. _"S__o this is what you were doing the day you found me?"_

"Mm-hm. Just walkin' through the forest to the lake, when some crazy wave came and knocked me out while I was eatin' my lunch," James said, thinking of his dream. "So, assuming that you _can _travel through time, are all of your exits this violent?"

"_Not usually, no. But this time I was attacked while traveling through the time stream. I think it was one the Overlord's evil minions." _The Ovelord was the great evil that the Hero Rylie came searching for was supposed to over-throw. Apparently he was slowly gaining dominion over time via mysterious items called "Time Gears." The Overlord's ultimate goal was to have taken ultimate power over time, as well as Sinnoh and Hoenn. And worryingly enough, the Overlord had already taken Hoenn, and his armies were advancing on the Sinnoh front. When Rylie had left, the Overlord had taken almost all of the Western coast of the region, as well as the outlying islands on the west side.

"Ah. And-" But Rylie interrupted him before he could finish.

"_There's supposed to be a Pokemon here to greet me, and to take care of any complications on the way. But Azelf wasn't here for some reason, which I find disturbing. What could have happened to him, I wonder?"_

"Yeah... So, how do you know that the Hero is in this time period?" James and Rylie never talked about this stuff at the loft – Rylie was eternally curious of the workings of the humans, and James never really cared much for the ludicrous past that Rylie claimed to have. It seemed appropriate to talk about it now, though.

"_The leader of the Timekeepers, Celebi, received a premonition that the Hero was in this period, closest to the Time Epicenter of Lake Valor. They would've sent a Pokemon that was more experienced, but figured that they would be less noticeable to send their most experienced rookie. And that's me."_

"Gotcha. And what's a time epicenter?"

"_Oh. Well, when we have to travel great distances in time, we need to go to one of the four Time Epicenters: Lake Valor, Lake Verity, Lake Acuity, and the Spear Pillar, where the Timekeepers' base is located."_

"Umm... Okay... So how does the whole time travel thing work, anyway?"

"_Well, to travel through time, you only need one Time Gear_. _With one Time Gear, you can go back anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Time-traveling without an Epicenter draws __upon your energy, so you can only go a few days at the most, and even that leaves you pretty weak. If you have an Epicenter, however, time-traveling uses the Epicenter's energy, and makes it quite easy to make large leaps from your home time. But you have to go back to your home time before you can go to another time. For instance, I can only go to my home time right now, and not anywhere in the future."_

"Well, if you can do all this, then why don't you just go back in time and, stop the Overlord from doing any of these things?"

"_The Overlord got a hold of many Time Gears before he made himself the Overlord. Because of this, he was able to put restrictions on time-travel before we could do__anything__. Of course, we have many Time Gears as well, so we could make plenty of restrictions as well. Also, we have many restrictions set on ourselves, as well, so we don't accidentally create any alternate dimensions."_

"How many do you have?"

"_About 200 or so, out of the 600 that are said to exist throughout the Sinnoh region, where all Time Gears originated."_

"And the Overlord?"

"_Nobody knows – all I can say is that he has far too many."_

"Wait a minute – you said that Time Travelers need at least one Time Gear on their person, and you would need two, so you'd have on for the 'Hero'. So where's yours?"

"_One of the reasons I wanted to come here today was to get my Timekeeper bag – it's a special bag similar to the one's Exploration Teams have, that is a lot bigger on the inside than it appears on the outside. The Time Gears are in there."_

"Exploration Team? What?"

"_Ugh... That's pretty complicated... Can we talk about something else?"_

"Er... Okay..." The pair walked in silence for a few minutes, when James asked quietly, "Why did you get mad at me in the barn the other day?"

Rylie was silent for a few minutes as well, thinking about it. _"W__ould you eat another human?"_

"Of course not! That's sick!"

"_Precisely. We have the same opinions as you on eating other members of our species. I wouldn't expect you to understand."_

After that, they both walked in silence, until they reached the lake.

* * *

><p><strong><em>I know that a lot of people right now are probably thinking something along the lines of "GAH! PLAGIARISM! GRR!", and I realize where you're coming from. I've read Silver Resistance too, and I understand. HOWEVER, this is not, in fact, plagiarism. No, not at all. Let me explain...<em>**

One fine, lazy Sunday afternoon, a boy known to the internet as "mikk317" was taking a shower, and he thought of a story. A FanFiction, to be exact, in the wonderful world Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, full of intrepid explorers, dastardly villain, amazing adventures, and a generous helping of awesomeness. Excited, he quickly hopped out of the shower, ran downstairs and began to set the outline of a story, stark naked. About an hour later, he had a rough outline of where he wanted the story to go, and decided that it was probably a good time to go put some clothes on before his mother came home and yelled at him for being completely naked in the middle of the dining room. A few hours later, mikk317 decided to go on the computer and look at some other stories on for inspiration. And then disaster struck. There was a story, somewhat similar to his that had OVER 900 reviews called _Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Silver Resistance_. With a heavy heart, mikk317 realized that his story would be brushed off as some sort of "fanfic of a fanfic" and put in his desk drawer, never to be seen again...

...Until a day in December, when mikk317 was feeling particularly bold. And bored. So, he joined forces with his TOTALLY AWESOME AND AMAZING beta-reader, Fire Burning, who helped him make the chapters he was stockpiling even more extraordinary than they were before. He knew he was going out on a limb, but that he was having to much fun writing the story to stop. Finally, on a cold day in February, he published. And life was good.

**_And that's the exciting tale of the publishing of this story! Whee!_**

**_In other news, I'm a little disappointed in you guys. I mean, I've written 3 chapters thus far, and I can see how many people are reading this, and how many aren't reviewing. Look, I'm not in this for fame, or recognition, or anything like that, and I realize this plea sounds whiny, but I would seriously appreciate some feedback. A sentence or two about what you like/don't like in this story, some critics you might have... I'll take it. Hell, I'll take FLAMES! So yeah, just a sentence or two... I'll be satisfied._**

**_Whew! Glad THAT's over. Anywho, I suppose I'll end with my usual goodbye:_**

**_**__****_Don't forget to review! Criticism/suggestions/random comments accepted!_****__**_**


	4. Adventures at Lake Valor, Part Two

**_Mulunia! You're my new best friend! I'm so glad you reviewed. In answer to your question: yes, there were only five time gears in the games, but having only five gears that granted total dominion over time just seemed a little... too powerful. So now the world has 600, shiny time gears, and any time traveler won't be suddenly omnipotent from using just one gear._**

* * *

><p><strong>Mid Autumn, 2078 C.E.<strong>

**Solaceon Town, Sinnoh**

James thought the water at Lake Valor was as sparkling and beautiful as it was a week ago, when he found Riley. "Well, here we are!" James said with energy, the fresh breeze invigorating him. "Shall we search for your bag?"

"_No, stay here. I know exactly where it is." _Rylie replied. Then, he jumped up onto a tree branch and hopped from tree to tree looking like, James decided later, an awesome ninja, looking down occasionally for the bag.

A few minutes later, Rylie came out of the forest, a satchel across his shoulder. "I'm assuming that's your special Timekeeper bag?" James asked.

"_Yeah. Everything still in there, which is good." _Rylie replied as he landed next to James. The bag was small, fitting Rylie's small form perfectly. It appeared to be made of leather, but James knew it had to be made of a similar material, after Rylie's rant yesterday. On the side of the satchel was an orange graphic gear. "_What are you making?"_

"Oh, this?" James asked, looking down at his handiwork. "Some PB and J sandwiches for our lunch. Don't worry, no meat," he added as he handed one to Rylie.

Rylie took a tentative bite, and, finding it satisfactory, kept eating._"...That was… yummy."_He said after finishing the sandwich.

James had finished his sandwich too, and, still hungry, fished an apple out of his bag, and began chomping into it. "So, what do you plan to do now? Go and find your 'Chosen One'?" he asked, still sort of leery of Rylie's past.

"_I see you are still skeptic of my past," _Rylie said as he opened his bag, and reached inside, digging his arm farther in than what should've been possible, grappling for something. When he came back out, he was holding two gears, gently pulsating with the same pale blue light that the lightning was a week ago, during the storm._"Perhaps you will believe me now__.__"_

James picked one of them up. "This is... this is... a Time Gear?" James was bewildered. Everything he thought he knew about the world had just been thrown out the window. The gears radiated energy, and they seemed to give James a little energy whenever he touched them. James put the first one down and picked up the other one. James examined this gear more closely. It was about eight inches in diameter, and it had grooves all over its surface of deeper shades of blue.

Just then, as he was holding the gear, he began to feel dizzy, and he said so.

Rylie was stupefied._"No! This is impossible!" _Rylie continued to speak, but his words became fuzzy and indistinct, like he was speaking through a screen or something. James vision suddenly became black, without warning.

Then there was a light, and it drew closer, like the end of a tunnel. James was confused._"What the HELL is going on here?" _he wondered. The white light kept getting bigger, until it came so close to James, it encased him. The whiteness faded, and then James could see a scene unfolding below him. It was at Lake Valor. He saw Rylie, standing next to... James?_"What? But I'm right here..." _Rylie was holding a Time Gear in front of him and saying something. Then it floated out of his hands, shined so brightly it became difficult to look at, and didn't move. Then, James (the one in the vision) shakily held his Time Gear in front of him and said the same thing. They both grabbed their Time Gears at the same time, and then...they disappeared._"Wait... Where'd I go? I was right there! WHAT IS GOING ON!" _Suddenly, there was another bright flash, and then James was back, sitting by the lakeside while Rylie stared nervously at him.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Rylie spoke, altogether too calmly. _"You... have the Dimensional Scream. That was what you just experienced. Did you see a vision?"_

James uttered a very quiet "Yes."

"_What did you see?"_

James told him about the vision.

"_The Dimensional Scream sometimes shows you visions of the future or past when you touch something. This only happens on certain objects."_

James sat there, with his head in his hands. Then he said_**(,)**_ "Why hasn't this happened before now?"

"_...I can't fathom the reasons as to why this has happened. It is beyond me. However, I think we both know what this means."_

James suddenly stood up, knocking the items on his lap onto the ground. "I'm not going to the past with you!" he shouted. "I have family to take care of here, and I'm not getting into this mess."

"_You don't understand, James. Unless you come with me, the changes the Overlord is making in the past WILL catch up and have an impact on the future." _Rylie's voice had an edge now, and he appeared to be readying a Force Palm, his demeanor a deathly calm._"I am prepared to force you to the past with me. It's my job, remember?"_

James looked down at him, weary. "What am I supposed to do, Rylie? Give up on my sister and mother?"

Rylie's voice softened a little._"I... understand. When we're done with you, I can just deliver you back to this time and place, right now. And you won't miss a thing."_

Nobody moved. Then, James put his arms down in defeat. "Fine. I saw it in my vision, so I guess it's bound to happen eventually."

"_Would you like to go back and pre-"_

"I have everything I need, Rylie! Let's just _GO! _Get this crap over with."

"_Alright. Just take a Time Gear, hold it out in front of you, and concentrate on moving to a different time. Like so." _Rylie held the Gear in front of him, and narrowed his eyes. A few minutes later, the gear glowed brightly, and floated up a little. Rylie looked at James expectantly.

James sighed_"__Alright, here we go." _He held it out in front of him, and thought about the trees around him growing older, the Pokemon getting larger...

_*ZING!*_

He opened the eyes he hadn't realized he closed, and the Time Gear was there, floating just above him. As he reached up and snatched it out of the air, buzzing with energy, Rylie said_, "__Good! Better than my first time. Now place it inside that pack you're wearing, and grab my hand!"_

James quickly stuffed it in there, realizing that he was _very _under-prepared. Brushing the thought aside, he grabbed Rylie's hand.

Rylie shouted in his mind,_"Alrighty then! Let's go!" _Without another thought, Rylie jumped into the water, dragging James with him.

James's eyes were closed tightly shut when he fell in the water, expecting a cold splash and slimy seaweed. But... he didn't feel a thing. Literally, he couldn't feel anything, no rushing air, no noise at all.

"_Open your eyes, James." _Rylie said.

James opened his eyes, and was stunned by the sight that awaited him: he was moving very, very fast inside some kind of tunnel. The tunnel was entirely circular and smooth, and the gravity here was akin to being underwater. As he looked closer, James could tell that the tunnel was semi-transparent, and beyond the walls of the tunnel were unreadable symbols, twisting and writhing. It was _mesmerizing_, and it frightened yet entranced James at the same time.

"_Strange, isn't it?" _Rylie said._"I thought the same thing during my first time."_

"Yeah..." James whispered, " pretty weird,"

Just then, a horrible scratching sound was heard like claws on a blackboard._"__Oh no__,__" _Riley said, his voice fearful._"This is the same disturbance I ran into on the way here. Someone is trying to sabotage our journey!" _Rylie looked directly at James. _"__Don't let go of my hand. Whatever you do, don't let go of it."_

James nodded, more confused than scared. It was then that James saw the source of the noise: a Pokemon was _ripping open the side of the tunnel, and trying to get in! _Rylie desperately launched seeds in his bag at it that exploded upon contact. But it wasn't enough. The Pokemon forced its way through, and James got a good look at it for the first time._"__A Weavile!" _he realized. "But_ how did it get here?"_

He was about to ask Rylie when the Weavile suddenly attacked, the Weavile's normally-white claws imbued with dark energy. But it wasn't going for Rylie. It was going for him. James defied orders and let go of Rylie's hand, pushing himself the opposite direction off of the wall. The Weavile was about to attack again, when it got a direct hit from Rylie's Force Palm. "Yeah! Go Rylie!" Rylie allowed himself a brief grin before turning back to the Weavile preparing another attack. But the Weavile was too quick, pushing off the side of the tunnel, and hitting Rylie with an Ice Punch along the way.

"Wea, Weavile! Vile!" the Weavile shouted, as it prepare a powerful attack, aimed directly at James who could only look on, frozen with fear.

"_James..." _Rylie said, his voice weak,_"After I use this attack, I need you to hold onto me, okay?"_

"Rylie!" James yelled, "What are you doing?"

With a roar, Rylie yelled_"FINAL GAMBIT!" _and hit the Weavile directly in the back. And then Riley fainted.

James hopped over the Weavile (who was very weak, at this point) and went over to the small Pokemon's body and picked it up cradling it in his arms. Riley appeared to be fainted, but otherwise unharmed.

"Wea..." the weak cry came from behind him. James set down Riley, turned around, and went over to the Weavile, planning to defeat her... and fell right into her trap. "...Vile!"

James didn't know it, but when the Pokemon had fallen down, she started charging a Dark Pulse, a let it loose the minute he got near her. "AAAAHH!" he screamed, as he was pushed out of the tunnel wall, and into blackness. As he fell, his only thought before fainting was,_"Riley... I've failed you..."_

* * *

><p><strong><em>And here it is, the one you've all been waiting for... PMD! Yes, I'm finally getting to the segment of the story that has to do with the name in the title. Don't forget James's backstory, though, 'cause that'll very important much later in the story.<em>**

**_Also, since I'm entering the world of Mystery Dungeon, I'll be needing a LOT of characters to back me up. That's right - I'll be needing OCs. Although I'm not ready for any quite yet, I will be needing them soon, so be thinking of some ideas. More info about that in the next chapter._**

**_One more thing: the move Final Gambit was introduced in Gen. V, and Riolu does learn naturally. Serebii says that it "The user risks everything to attack its target. The user faints but does damage equal to the user's HP." That's why Riolu collapsed after using the move._**

**_And as always..._**

**__****_Don't forget to review! Criticism/suggestions/random comments accepted!_****__**


	5. Hey! Listen!

James coughed as the breath of life was breathed into him. After getting over his hacking fit, he slowly opened his eyes. James couldn't move his head, but he could see that he was... inside of an aurora? That's what it looked like, anyway. The colors were constantly changing and flowing, like water. First red, then orange, then yellow, then green, and so on. James felt strangely relaxed, though, as if it didn't matter that he had no idea where he was, how he came to be here, and what the hell was going on in general. Nope. None of that mattered. He could just sit here... and sleep... and not have to go to work... _"Where did I work again?" _he thought_ "I can't remember... It feels like my memory is slipping away... But that's okay, as long as I can stay here, where it's warm... and comfy... and nice..."_

"_Hello!"_

James's eyes snapped open. Had he heard a voice just now? _"Nah, it was my imagination."_ he decided, and closed his eyes again to sleep...

"_Hey! Listen!"_

Okay, he had definitely heard someone speaking... in his head? _"I've never heard someone inside my head before,"_ he thought, before getting an enormous urge to respond to the mysterious voice. "Err... anybody there?" he called out, feeling quite silly for doing so.

"_Oh good, you're responding! I'm going to be asking you a few questions, 'kay?"_

James digested this for a moment. "Well... that's nice..."

"_Yep! So let's get started! A delinquent is a hassling a girl on a busy street! What will you do?"_

Before he could utter a word, James's mind suddenly seemed to grow a little sharper, enough to form a coherent thought beyond the fact that the area he was in was comfortable. "I'd definitely help! Even if I was scared."

"_Can you focus on something you like?"_

James focused on his sister, although it was little difficult with his memories slipping away. "Err... yes."

"_Good, good. Now,you've been assigned a difficult task. What do you do?"_

"I'll do it myself. I hate having to fix what other people have gone and messed up."

"_Hmm... that's interesting... Do you fall asleep without noticing?"_

"Not really..."

"_Do you occasionally consider yourself to be dull or overly cautious?"_

"I've never really thought about it..."

"_We'll skip to the next one then: You win the lottery! What do you do with all the money?"_

"...I'd probably save it,"

"_Great!_ _Your country's leader is in front of you. How do you speak to him or her?"_

"I'd probably speak calmly..."

"_Um... Have you ever played Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time or Explorers of Darkness?"_

"Have I... what?"

The voice sighed._ "Look, I know it's a weird question, but I'm required to ask it."_

"I don't think so...?"

"_Just what I thought. One last question: are you a boy or a girl?"_

"Boy. Definitely."

"_And... we're done! Okay, now I need you to wait just a second... I'll be right back!"_

"_That was strange,"_ James thought._" I wonder who that was?"_ The entire time that he had been talking to the strange being, the drugged feeling wore off a little more, and James was more consistent, more rational. Yet he still felt no alarm as his stream of memories cascaded over the waterfall of misrecollection, and consigned to oblivion. The ranch, Joe, Austin and the rest, his mother. The only thing he could really hold onto was his sister, but even she was beginning to slip away, as James forgot her name, and how she looked. Just then, the voice returned.

"_Thank you for answering all those questions. Based off the these questions, I can tell what your personality is, which lets me do... a lot of things."_

"_Anyway, you appear to be... the hardy type. You do your homework diligently, and you know to eat properly. You have strong willpower that lets you complete tasks, however tough. But you can also be stubborn to the point of even feuding with friends... Nothing will go right for you when you're irritated, so just learn to laugh it off. A hardy person like you should be..._

"_**Charmander!**"_

"...Uhh... that's great... look, can I-"

The voice went on, oblivious to James's discomfort._"There is another thing... your aura – it is a Fiery Red!"_

"Terrific. But-"

_Okay! We're all set! Let's get you into the world of Pokemon! Go for it!"_

James was about to shout out in protest, but the drugged feeling came over him again, and he felt content. _"Ugh... I'm so tired... I think it's sleepy time now..."_

And, although he couldn't remember it, that was the third he had blacked out since he had met Riley.

* * *

><p><em><strong>First off, I'd like to thank Mulunia for another lovely review. I really do appreciate those. <strong>_

_**Also, if anyone recognized the Navi _**(Legend of Zelda)**_ reference , good for you. High-Five!**_

_**I realize this is a short chapter, but it didn't quite feel right to put the personality quiz in the same chapter as the rest of the PMD stuff.**_

___**And now... the one you've all been waiting for... OC SUBMISSIONS! Here's the form for it:**_

**__**Name: Don't make it ridiculous (Angel Nightfeather Ravenwing Ridiculously Long Emo Name), but be creative. Also, since I'll be using Latin and Japanese roots to come up with the proper nouns in this story, names from those roots would be great.

Species: NO PIKACHUS! I've had enough of them. In fact, it'd be great if they could be pokemon that aren't done all that often (Horsea, Porygon-Z, Banette, etc.) would be excellent

Gender: Self-Explanatory

Age: Self-Explanatory

Personality: Be VERY detailed here. I want to know exactly what this character is like. What's their motivation, for doing whatever they do? Secret loves? BE CREATIVE.

Occupation: Self-explanatory

Past: They're allowed to be mysterious, but try to avoid that. It's incredibly cliche. But if it works well, I might keep it. Again, be creative.

Relations: Family, friends, lovers, enemies, etc.

Attacks: Self-Explanatory

Battle Style: Aggressive, timid, patient, etc.

_**...And that's about it! I think that covers it! Alright, well, I don't have anything else to say, really, so..**_

__**_Don't forget to review! Criticism/suggestions/random comments accepted!_**


	6. Welcome to the World of Pokemon!

**Early Summer, 226 B.C.E.**

**Valor Lakefront, Sinnoh**

"...I'm telling you, we'll be amazing! You know we make a great team, and when we work together, no one could stand against us!" the Totodile proclaimed.

"I know, but are you sure this is the right course of action? What if we got injured? There are other ways to help Pokemon, right?" the Treecko, walking next to him, argued. The exchange between the two had been like this the whole time they'd been traveling.

The Treecko's name was Silvaris, and had always been a quiet girl. Underneath her layers of introversion, though, was a stubborn persona that would never give up, and an unwavering determination to do good. She had adopted this mindset after she learned what had actually happened to her parents, who had both died as a result of the Overlord's advancing forces in the Eternal Forest on the other side of the mountains. Apparently, Silvaris was the daughter of the famous Sceptile, Scepter, leader of the highly-esteemed Team Leaf Blade, which was completely eradicated during the Battle of Eternal Forest. Determined to keep her father's team's glory alive, Silvaris set out with Amplit as her partner to achieve this goal. Since she had heard about the Overlord's terrible reign, she decided to train herself as hard as she could so that she could eventually battle the Overlord's forces herself. Her training consisted of plenty of gymnastics and acrobatics (which Silvaris had learned from a Meinfoo), and battling (which she did mostly with the Totodile, Amplit, but occasionally with other Pokemon in the area). Silvaris was also particularly adept at jumping from branch to branch in large forests, which came as a side effect of the Mienfoo's training.

Amplit was Silvaris's best friend, ever since they had first met. He was a polar opposite of Silvaris: outgoing, excitable, and constantly rushing into things before he knew what was going on. They both had lost their parents to the war, but they preferred not to talk about it, deciding that the past was the past, and there was nothing they could do about it. Amplit wasn't as driven as Silvaris, though, by the death of his parents. Nope, he just wanted to go where ever Silvaris went, because she was his best friend.

At the moment, the two were walking along the beach of Lake Valor, satchels across their shoulders, arguing. "I guess I'm just a little scared, that's all," Silvaris admitted.

"What? You're never nervous! You're the toughest person I know! And you're really smart, too." Amplit exclaimed.

"Thanks, Amplit. But you've heard all of the rumors. The ones about how the training is supposed to be really difficult, and how many Pokemon have dropped out of it. How all of the Pokemon there are really powerful..." she replied, still uncertain.

Amplit stopped, turned towards Silvaris, and put his hand on her shoulder. "Relax. We've had this planned out for weeks. And we both know it's going to be okay, right?"

Silvaris looked up at him and smiled. "Right. We'll form an Exploration Team, hunt for treasure in mystery dungeons, and dethrone the Overlord!"

"Yeah! That's the spirit! Now come on, we're burning daylight. The sun's high in the sky, and we gotta get to Solace Station before nightfall."

In Sinnoh, there are groups of Pokemon known as Exploration Teams who are opposed to the Overlord's rule, and are generally on the front lines during battles against him. Of course, before the Overlord became infamous, the teams instead explored unknown places, and often brought back wondrous treasures. That's not to say that they didn't do that any more, though; they just didn't do it as much. Nowadays, Exploration Teams worked on sabotaging the Overlord's forces, through attacking his army's supply caravans, as well as freeing prisoners of war and the like. Countless stories had been told of courageous explorers throughout the ages, such as the daring exploits of the Scizor, Lamnia. Or the amazing adventures of Team Eon, comprised of seven highly disciplined Eeveelutions, rumored to have never failed a mission.

The free region of Sinnoh consisted of everything east of the Tengan range (including Extrarius Island to the northeast, even though it wasn't technically part of Sinnoh), and the Hailing Plains to the north. It was also whispered that the rebellion had set up a secret outpost on Tetsu Island, which is a cave-riddled island of the coast of the Eternal Forest, said to be filled with iron, among other metals.

"Hey! Who's that?" Amplit blurted, snapping Silvaris out of her quiet contemplation. She looked to where he was pointing, and saw a small Pokemon up on the other side of the lake, partially hidden by some bushes. "Oh man! What if he's injured? We better go help him!" the Totodile went on.

"I wonder if he has anything to do with that strange storm that we saw last night?" Silvaris wondered.

"Nah. That's ridiculous," Amplit replied, scattering the thought like dust in a breeze. "What would he have to do with some dumb storm?"

"Just a thought..." Silvaris mumbled, blushing.

But Amplit wasn't paying attention. "Come on, let's go help him!" he shouted before running off, not waiting for the Treecko to respond.

He awoke to a fuzzy noise, that sounded like it was coming through a wall before it reached his ears.

"_Ugh... What happened? Why does leg hurt so much?"_

"_...and where am I?"_

"_And __**what**__ is that sound? It reminds me of people talking..."_

The sound began to get sharper, and more distinct.

"...Hmm...That wound doesn't look good...I wonder what happened?" a soft voice said, obviously feminine.

A louder voice spoke, having a slightly more masculine tone to it. "Doesn't look good? There's a stick going _through his leg_. Of course it's not good, Captain Obvious." Both voices definitely sounded young, definitely not past puberty.

That explained the pain in his leg. _"But what happened?" _he thought, still confused. He could feel that he was laying on something soft, but natural. He suspected leaves. He was slightly propped, like he was on an incline.

"It's called 'Assessing the Situation,' doofus. Perhaps if you- Hey! He's stirring!" The girl's voice said.

He opened his eyes slowly, letting the painful light seep through his retinas no more quickly than necessary. "Oww..." he groaned. When his eyes were opened fully, and his vision stopped being blurry, he found himself staring at two Pokemon, a Totodile and a Treecko. How he knew their species' names, he had no idea. The information just came to him.

But then something happened that was truly inexplicable, completely and utterly inconceivable. "Hi! I'm Amplit, and this is my best friend, Silvaris. What happened to you?" the Totodile said, false cheerfulness obvious in his voice.

The friggin' Pokemon talked.

"Holy sh- OW!" He tried to crawl backwards, but his leg felt like it had caught on fire when he moved. Looking down, he saw that there was a stick impaling his leg, going all the way through, in one side, out the other. There was blood seeping from the wound, making an alarmingly large pool of blood beneath his limb. He dimly recalled the two Pokemon mentioning something about that. "Why meee..." he groaned. Then he took a double-take. His leg was orange! _"My eyes must not be fully recovered from...whatever happened_,_"_ he decided.

"What's wrong? I mean, I know my friend is ugly and everything, but he was just saying hello, really," she inquired, with a confused smile.

The Totodile – Amplit – looked at her with mock disbelief. "I don't know what you're talking about! On the contrary, the ladies tell me I'm quite the handsome devil."

Silivaris stuck her tongue out him. "Psh. You wish." She turned back to the mysterious Pokemon. "But anyway, what's the problem?"

He stared back at her, bewildered. "Um... well you...ah...talked. Don't you think I might find that only the _tiniest_ bit unusual?"

Silvaris blinked. "No, not in the slightest. Why is this unusual?"

I threw my hands in the air, exasperated. "Well, for starters, you're _Pokemon_."

"So're you," Amplit spoke up.

Now it was the mysterious Pokemon's turn to blink. "Excuse me?"

Silvaris sighed. "I hate to break it to you, genius, but you're a Pokemon. Is this a problem?"

This one definitely threw him for a loop. "I'm a human! Obviously!"

"No, you're not a...human? Did I pronounce that right?" Amplit said.

His jaw dropped. "You don't know what a human is?"

Amplit shook his head, saying, "'Fraid not." Then, turning to Silvaris, Amplit asked, "You?"

"No idea." she replied. She looked back at me. "Look, how about you just examine yourself. Then we can stop arguing about whether you're a Pokemon or not, 'Kay?"

He glanced and saw to his annoyance, that his skin was _still_ orange. But the seeds of doubt were sown as he saw his feet had grown abnormally long toe-nails and that he felt far too short. Upon closer inspection of his skin, it seemed..._scaly? _He put his face in his hands, wondering how he got himself into this situation, only to realize that they weren't, in fact hands, but rather paws. "I look like some kind of...reptile." he said, to no one in particular. Then he looked up. "Am I dreaming?"

"I'm pretty sure you're not dreaming..." Silvaris giggled. Then she opened the small bag she was carrying, and began to rifle through it, eventually bringing out a bowl. "Amplit, do you mind filling this up?"

He responded by spraying a short, weak jet of water from his jaws, into the bowl. Silvaris handed it to the human-turned Pokemon. "Look at yourself, in the reflection."

With shaking hands, he grasped the bowl, and looked into it. And saw a Charmander staring up at him.

"This... this is ridiculous! Inconceivable!" But then he thought about it for a second. _"But then again, nothing has made __sense_ _so far - waking up with no memories, a stick impaled in my leg, and talking Pokemon? Maybe... Maybe I am a Charmander..."_ (I don't think you mention before this that he doesn't remember anything, and without that it seems like this lack of memory is coming completely out of the blue. My suggestion would be that Silvaris and aybe you could have him try to explain what a human is and what one does, but he can't remember it clearly?)

"I guess I **am** a Pokemon... How strange." he said, looking up. "I suppose that means I can, like, spit fire, right?" A little smile crept across his face as he mentioned the last part.

"I hear that it takes a lot of practice..." Amplit replied, uncertain, and slightly taken aback by the sudden mood swing from the Charmander. "Uh... Do you have a name?"

The Charmander thought for a minute, and then he _giggled_. "I don't think so!"

Silvaris was taken aback by the exceedingly strange behavior coming from the Charmander. He just turned turned into a Pokemon and doesn't appear to remember anything about his background. Shouldn't he be the least bit panicked? When she glanced over at Amplit, she realized that he was thinking the same thing. "How about we think of a new name for you... like... er... I think a common name for one of your species is... Candle?"

The Charmander rolled his eyes. "Blech. That's horribly unoriginal. How about something like... Higake!"

Amplit blinked. "What?"

"Perhaps you ought to choose something else... Silvaris said tentatively.

He scrunched up his eyebrows, deep in thought, before he suddenly announced. "Flint!"

"...Perhaps we ought to do something about your leg, and then decide on your name later..." Amplit replied.

"Excellent idea!" the Charmander agreed. Then, to the other two Pokemons' horror, he tried to lift his impaled leg off the stick. And promptly screamed in pain. "OH ARCEUS IT HURTS!" he cried, tears flying out of his eyes. "What are we going to DO? Oww..."

While the Charmander cried in pain, Silvaris quickly pulled Amplit off to the side, and began to whisper quickly. "He's obviously in shock. That's what's making him act so strangely. He was probably starting to slip from the huge amount of blood loss, and then the realization that he had turned into a Pokemon – something I don't quite believe, mind you – must've pushed him over the edge. To be honest, I think it's remarkable that he managed to hold on this long. So here's the plan: get a one of the Sleep Seeds in my bag and make one of those lovely mixtures you're so good at, while I calm him down. Then we'll have to force feed him the drink so we can get his leg off the stick. You remember how to make a splint, right?" Normally they'd leave it in, and take the Charmander to a doctor for better treatment, but they were a long ways away from any sort of doctor, and Silvaris was afraid of infection. Besides, Pokemon healed pretty quickly, and Silvaris and Amplit had the tools and expertise help clean and bandage the wound.

Amazingly, Amplit was _far_ better at healing than Silvaris was, even though he was usually the one screwing around during all of the survival classes at the orphanage. Silvaris just... couldn't do it. The last time she had tried to make a splint, she had nearly broken the leg of the Pokemon that she was supposed to be demonstrating on. "Absolutely! Lemme go make that mixture, and get my healing kit." Then he scurried off to where they had left their supplies.

Silvaris grimaced and turned back to the Charmander, before sitting down next to him. "Hey... It's gonna be alright, 'kay?"

_**One force-feeding and one splint later...**_

The Charmander was out cold, behind them, out cold, while Silvaris and Amplit were lying on each side of him, panting. "He's a... strong one..." Amplit gasped.

Silvaris sat up, glancing down at the Charmander before speaking to Amplit. "No kidding. So, what're we gonna do now? With him, I mean. 'Cause night's falling, and we're going to have to set up camp soon, and we can't just _leave_ him here, and..." Her voiced trailed off.

Amplit stood, up brushing the dirt from his legs and the healing kit that he was holding on to. "Well, I supposed we'll have to take him to Solace Station with us, where he can rest and recover. I'll admit, getting him there's going to be difficult, but we're an Exploration Team. It's our job!"

Silvaris groaned "Okay then. Wanna go find a good spot while I get everything packed up?"

"Sounds good!" he replied, and scurried off along the lakeshore.

Silvaris turned back to the recumbent Pokemon next to her and sighed. _"Why'd you have to make everything so darn _complicated_?"_ she wondered.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi all! I've got a bit of news, so pay attention.<strong>

**First, I have a new system for responding to reviews. I'll responding to OC submissions via a PM, so I can tell you whether your character has been accepted or not. If you responding anonymously, then I guess you're just going to have to wait and see. My apologies to Sophia the Eevee (an anonymous reviewer, for those of you who don't know), but I'd prefer to let only the reviewer know of the outcome of their submission. I hope you understand. If your review is unrelated, then my response will appear below:**

**Mulunia: Thanks for another fantastic review! I'm glad you liked the chapter.**

**Something dictionary related: I made a bit of a connection between some parts of my story, like The Overlord, and some other stuff you know about for a little while longer. But after looking at it again, you're right - this story definitely looks different from Silver Resistance, and I was just being paranoid. Thanks for waking me up to that!**

**Hmm... I feel like I had something else to say, but I'm not sure what is. Oh well, probably nothing important anyway. So, I guess I'll being seeing you all next time, but first...**

****_**__****_Don't forget to review! Criticism/suggestions/random comments accepted!_****__**_****


	7. Farewell, and thanks for all the fish!

I noticed that this account had stumbled across some recent popularity, for whatever reason, and figured I should respond to that. Here:

* * *

><p>Ladies and gentlemen, I have something to confess. The account that has published these stories has been quite, well, ah... <em><strong>DEAD<strong>_ for a long while. I have another account that I"m thinking of using as a fresh start, of sorts. But perhaps I ought to explain...

_It was the September of 2010. Or 2011. I can't remember, and, quite frankly it doesn't matter. Anyhow, a young boy of only twelve years of age had an idea. Not just any idea, of course. Otherwise writing this would be absurd! But yes, he had an idea, and by God, he was going to write it down! And he did! He dashed downstairs, stark naked from the shower, and wrote it all down on a flimsy piece of notebook paper, fleshing it out, making it longer, bringing in characters and working in plotty things. It was the best and worst thing he ad ever written in many ways - the best, in that it was his completely original work. There had been no prompt, no assignment, no one else _forcing_ him to put words on paper. And worst in that was an utter piece of shit. Oh well._ _He was happy. Now fast forward about to months. He had really gotten into this "writing" thing, and _HEY! _if authors can publish work, than why cant I? There's nothing to stop me! I have a computer, I have the talent, let's do it! And he did it. An account was created under the handle "mikk317," and he wrote._

_But... as things like this go, it couldn't, wouldn't, _didn't_ last. He stopped enjoying the fandoms as much. He moved on, forgot, and let his account go to waste. mikk317 grew up - he went to High School! He won MOAR robotics! He got a new PC! And once again... he began to feel the urge to write. But he knew how things went last time. He knew how _BADLY _it went, and honestly? He felt awful. Still, does, actually. So he made this. A final good bye. Adieu. Ciao. Adios. To better times, friends! And that was when mikk317 died._

__Now, I mean that in a purely metaphorical sense. I **am**, in some respects, mikk317. But I am also another - TheBanette, on this site - and I will publish stories again, and I _will_ bring back Vengeance and PMD:R, and I will _not_ quit! I won't! But I won't start immediately. This time, I'll play it smart. I'll build up a buffer. I'll make myself a schedule, and stick to it. I'll keep writing, even after the inspiration is gone. And this _totally-not-a-chapter_ will serve as testament to that (which is why I'm not deleting it).

So, to you sirs and madams who have, by some ridiculous stroke of luck, found my writings and (here's where it _really_ gets shocking) _enjoyed_ them... be patient, a little while longer, I implore you. First Semester and all the drama that's been cming with it is finally coming to a close, and I'll be needing to write things for my Creative Writing class, should I get it (I probably won't, but one can always hope...).

This time, I'll get my shit together.

That is all. Good night.

_(Any questions can be PM'd to my new account)_

_(And sorry about the typos, if there are any, I wrote this as fast as I could so I could get to work on the Rebooted version of Vengeance as well as some original work of mine)_


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